Major League Soccer

Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league, sanctioned by U.S.
Soccer, that represents the sport's highest level in both the United States and Canada. MLS
constitutes one of the major professional sports leagues of the United States and Canada. The
league comprises 22 teams—19 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada. The MLS regular season runs from
March to October, with each team playing 34 games; the team with the best record is awarded
the Supporters' Shield. The postseason includes twelve teams competing in the MLS Cup
Playoffs through November and December, culminating in the championship game, the MLS
Cup. MLS teams also play in other domestic competitions against teams from other divisions in
the U.S. Open Cup and in the Canadian Championship. MLS teams also compete against
continental rivals in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Major League Soccer was founded in 1993 as part of the United States' successful bid to
host the 1994 FIFA World Cup. The first season took place in 1996 with ten teams. MLS
experienced financial and operational struggles in its first few years: The league lost millions of
dollars, teams played in mostly empty American football stadiums, and two teams folded in
2002. Since then, MLS has expanded to 22 teams, owners built soccer-specific stadiums, average
MLS attendance exceeds that of the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball
Association (NBA), MLS secured national TV contracts, and the league is now profitable.

Instead of operating as an association of independently owned teams, MLS is a single

entity in which each team is owned and controlled by the league's investors. The investor-
operators control their teams as owners control teams in other leagues, and are commonly
referred to as the team's owners. The league has a fixed membership, like most sports leagues in
the United States and Canada, which makes it one of the world's few soccer leagues that does not
use promotion and relegation, a practice that is uncommon in the two countries. MLS
headquarters is located in New York City.

With careful cost controls and the construction of soccer-specific stadiums, some MLS
clubs became profitable for the first time in the mid-2000s, and Forbes magazine found that three
clubs were already valued at $40 million or more, with the Los Angeles Galaxy worth $100
million. The establishment of the Designated Player Rule in 2007 has led to the signings of
international superstars such as David Beckham and Thierry Henry, and Cuauhtémoc Blanco.

Professional soccer has been less popular in the United States than most other parts of the
world. Although MLS is also much younger than most other countries' first divisions, it is
already the 12th most-attended premier division in the world. MLS has announced its goal of
developing into one of the top soccer leagues in the world by 2022. MLS Cups are won in a
playoff system unlike in European leagues. The LA Galaxy has won the most MLS Cups with
five.
Competition format

Major League Soccer's regular season runs from March to October. Teams are divided into
the Eastern and Western Conferences. Teams play 34 games in an unbalanced schedule: 23
matches against teams within their conference, plus 11 matches against teams from the other
conference. Midway through the season, teams break for the annual All-Star Game, a friendly
game between the league's finest players and a major club from a different league. At the end of
the regular season, the team with the highest point total is awarded the Supporters' Shield.

Unlike some soccer leagues around the world, but similar to other leagues in the Americas,
the MLS regular season is followed by the 12-team MLS Cup Playoffs in November, ending
with the MLS Cup championship final in early December. Although some commentators have
argued that playoffs reduce the importance of the regular season, Commissioner Don Garber has
explained "Our purpose is to have a valuable competition, and that includes having playoffs that
are more meaningful."

Other competitions

MLS teams also play in other competitions. Every year, up to five MLS teams play in the
CONCACAF Champions League against other clubs from the CONCACAF region (Mexico,
Central America, and the Caribbean). Two U.S.-based MLS teams qualify based on MLS
regular-season results: the winner of the Western conference and the winner of the Eastern
conference. The third U.S. team to qualify is the winner of the MLS Cup. A fourth U.S.-based
MLS team can qualify via the U.S. Open Cup, where U.S. based teams compete against lower
division U.S. clubs.

If a team qualifies through multiple berths, or if any of the MLS berths are taken by a
Canada-based MLS team, the berth is reallocated to the best U.S.-based team in the Supporters'
Shield table which has failed to otherwise qualify. Canadian MLS clubs play against lower
division Canadian clubs in the Canadian Championship for the one Champions League spot
allocated to Canada. No MLS club has won the Champions League since it began its current
format in 2008, with Mexican clubs dominating the competition, but MLS teams have twice
reached the final: Real Salt Lake in 2011 and the Montreal Impact in 2015.

Teams

MLS's 22 teams are divided between the Eastern and Western Conferences. Each club is
allowed up to 28 players on its first team roster. All 28 players are eligible for selection to each
18-player game-day squad during the regular season and playoffs. In the history of MLS, 23
different clubs have competed in the league, with 11 having won at least one MLS Cup, and 11
winning at least one Supporters' Shield. Six times both trophies have been won by the same club
in the same year (two clubs have done it twice).